Kirby Smart just sort of slipped in at SEC Media Days this week what’s a fairly big deal to members of Georgia’s 1980 national championship team. That is, UGA is hosting a viewing party for them when the 2017 Bulldogs take on Notre Dame on Sept. 9.

“They’ll get to sit and watch that game if they’re not actually going to Notre Dame,” Smart said during his opening remarks Tuesday morning. “That will be an exciting venue for those guys to come back together and watch that game.”

There’s sort of a curious backstory, though. For one thing, there were other wheels in motion on a reunion.

Actually, Smart kind of jumped the gun on Frank Ros, who in addition to being a starting inside linebacker on that undefeated, untied team of yore, also was a team captain and, as such, has since become de facto reunion organizer for the 1980 Bulldogs. He was the point man for the 10th, 20th, 25th, 30th and 35th reunions of the championship team, and he’s the point man for this event as well.

The reality, Ros said, is everything hasn’t quite been finalized just yet. On Thursday, he was still processing the data he’d gotten back from the survey he sent out to his 1980 teammates, and he said he has yet to have a formal discussion with UGA Athletic Director Greg McGarity about it.

As the article notes, Ros is a sharp guy, and, as someone who’s worked at Coca-Cola for a long while, familiar with how to get things moving in a corporate environment. So you’ll have to excuse me if I don’t totally buy this proclamation of innocence:

But you don’t get to be vice president of Hispanic strategies for Coca-Cola International without being organized and self-motivated, as Ros is. And now that Smart threw it out there to several hundred media members attending SEC Media Days, it looks like it’s a go.

“I didn’t even realize Kirby had done that,” Ros, now retired, said with a laugh from his home in Kennesaw, an Atlanta suburb, on Thursday. “But I’ve gotten a good response so it looks like we’ll be able to finalize everything now.” [Emphasis added.]

Pardon my skepticism, but I detect a whiff of clever maneuvering here. It smells to me like Greg McGarity just got squeezed with a nifty power play engineered in part by his head football coach. Whether that would be because the two were concerned McGarity might object (why, I don’t know), or simply wanted to sidestep bureaucratic nitpicking by the man who entangled himself with condoms in a contract negotiation, they’ve managed to arrange that the optics are now such that it would be near impossible to sidetrack what ought to be a neat get-together.

Makes you wonder what else Smart is capable of manipulating. Unless it was a complete coincidence, of course.

With Nick Saban (and Kirby Smart, no doubt) making plans to avoid running afoul of the new rule imposing a 15-yard penalty on coaches leaving the sideline to argue with officials, I would love to see a coach attempt a sarcastic variation of the patented James Brown Exit to get some hapless ref’s attention.

I’m not sure this qualifies as much of a scoop, but it’s certainly a great story relayed to me by a reader who’s been battling with UGA for several months about the new seatback policy. You remember what that is, right?

… the policy also includes new rules about what sort of seat cushion you can carry into the stadium. Unfortunately, information emanating from the athletic department had been a bit unclear on just what that means.

On the official website, the initial announcement said: “Seat cushions — without arms or pockets — will still be permitted into the venues.” And, in the downloadable PDF linked to on the official site, it said the banned attributes included “arm rests and any large traditional seat cushions that have pockets, zippers, compartments or covers.”

However, in the latest Bulldog Monthly fan email, it said seat cushions must be “without arms, backs, or pockets.

So, are seat cushions with backs no longer allowed?

I put that question this week to Matt Brachowski, associate athletic director for event management, who clarified: “Seats with backs are no longer permitted.”

Welp, that didn’t sit well (see what I did there?) with our intrepid reader, who at one point offered to get a note from her doctor about needing a seat with a back if that would allow her to qualify for a waiver under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Apparently sarcasm works, because in response she received this assurance from someone with the Georgia Bulldog Club:

I just got word that we have slightly changed our policy on fans bringing in their own seatbacks. Fans can now bring their own seatbacks in as long as they do not exceed 16 inches wide. It still cannot have arms or pockets, but it can have a back.

Woo hoo! Savor that, friends. On the surface, it may not sound like a whole lot, but that’s the first real concession from the athletic department I’ve seen to a legitimate concern from a regular ol’ Georgia football fan attending games in some time. Take your victories where you can get them, people.

Man, if only I could talk her into starting a letter-writing campaign on Sanford Stadium bathrooms and concessions. And tailgating… and… ah, I can dream, can’t I?

On the one hand, it sounds like he’s matured considerably since his Athens days and made something better of his character. That’s totally admirable on his part and I don’t mind saying so.

On the other hand, how can I pass up Malzahn calling the same kid who got arrested for stealing checks and then kicked out of school by Mark Richt after further misbehavior “… the leader of our defense and really our team leader” without rolling on the floor laughing my ass off?

Quote Of The Day

“Give them credit, but I think everybody can see that Georgia’s going to be a force to be reckoned with. I’m very proud of this team and this university, and we’re not going anywhere.’ — Kirby Smart, AJ-C, 1/9/18